Where to begin? At the end I think. And end it is. The loss to Croatia means our attempt to qualify is over, with a game still to play. While we've played well the last two weeks, against two much higher ranked teams, we had good leads in both games and I'm sure I'm not alone in being disappointed.
Of course England have never qualified but that doesn't make the failure any more palatable.
I knew Croatia we concerned about this game, they felt we had better game shape, and that there was a chance they could lose. I'm not sure how many in England thought that was right but I for one did feel that we had a very good chance of winning today. I predicted LI, mostly because of this concern, but also because I felt they were much stronger than us inside, and would want to use that to their advantage.
We know now they didn't do that, they played BO and normalled, which has come as a big shock. I don't recall considering them normalling even for a second. I don't feel I made a mistake, as I don't see it being the correct decision for them, but it happened and won them the game.
I did of course think about going normal myself, but, though we had to win this game to stay alive, I felt there was no point in winning by using precious enthusiasm, which might lead to a loss next week, and failing anyway, or limping through qualification and being wasted by the time the next game comes along.
In today's game, it was in the end their inside scoring that won the game for them, especially their C. We were leading when Hongs got injured, and while I think its mostly a coincidence, we played a lot worse after he was gone. McDonough and Sharpling performed at their best for us. Luke Innes came in and for a short spell in the second quarter made us look a very good team indeed. He has a bright future ahead of him.
On now to a largely meaningless game against Israel, but one which we will certainly be looking to win, as the players, and their team owners deserve a winning season.